Last night on Conflucians Say, we discussed anger and why it’s sometimes a very useful emotion. You have a right to be angry if someone has abused you or has done something untrustworthy. Keeping anger inside or giving in to pressure that says you shouldn’t get angry because it isn’t polite can lead to frustration, depression, health problems and passivity. Healthy organisms with good survival instincts get angry and do something about it when they are treated badly.
So, why didn’t we get really angry after 9/11?
Because if there was ever a time to get really overwrought, sharpen those pitchforks and march to DC to demand answers and George W. Bush’s criminal ass out of the WH, it was immediately after 9/11. Terrorism might not be entirely preventable and let’s face it, the US was past due for someone to strike us over something, but there was plenty of evidence that the people in charge *knew* 9/11 was coming and they did nothing to stop it. Not only that but some of us believe they let it happen on purpose to usher in their brave new world of unfettered capitalism shock and awe. Maybe they didn’t think it would be so spectacular but the odd passivity of the administration coupled with weird coincidences (military jets on exercise that day? Really?), can make even perfectly sane people reach for the Reynold’s Wrap.
So, why didn’t we storm the castle and toss the inhabitants into the moat? I think it was because of fear. Many of us were scared out of our wits, a situation that was exaccerbated by the introduction of the terrorism alert system. We lived in a state of code red for years. And every time the fear level subsided a little and voters started to ask questions, the director of Homeland Security would up the red end of the spectrum. A little jolt of fear does wonders for keeping the populace in line.
I’m bringing this up because the news about the economy is grim. It’s very serious. We didn’t live through the Great Depression but we can read all about it and consult our grandparents, if they’re still around. Our 401Ks are depleted, our jobs are disappearing, our way of life is going the way of the dinosaur, or so it seems. It’s very frightening. And now there are people at various websites scaring the pants off of us with even more dire scenarios. Ian Bremer of the Eurasia Group gave an apolcalyptic scenario on Planet Money on Wednesday where he basically said that the little people, and by this Oh Best Beloved, he meant *us*, do not have the luxury of being angry about the bonuses. We should be worried about our own subsistence and meeting the basic needs of food and shelter.
Oh, really?
Fear is also a useful emotion. If can provoke the fight or flight mechanism. But it can also short circuit the ability to reason. It makes us vulnerable to emotional manipulation. It can make even normally sane people do crazy things, like re-electing the bastard that got us into the mess in the first place. So, let’s assume that the people who are suddenly worried about economic Armageddon are being honest. What is the logical thing to do? Preparation is everything. Don’t take on new debt right now. Liquidate some assets so you have a cushion in case you get laid off. Start making a plan B in case the worst happens. Start a vegetable garden. Run for public office. Contact your congress critter and let them know you’re how you feel. Turn off the cable news idiots. Pay attention to signs in your environment as to how the wind is blowing.
But for gawd’s sakes, don’t let anyone tell you that you haven’t got the luxury to be angry. Feel the rage over what the laissez faire capitalists have done. Be frothing mad over the way that the last administration and the current one have allowed the greedy bastards to do whatever they want without any kind of regulation. Now that we know what they are up to, what is keeping the Obama administration from reining them in? Even now, AIG is funneling, tunneling, billions of dollars to Goldman Sachs and nothing is being done about it. The bankers get away with murder and are never forced to take a haircut while union workers in Detroit have to give up their compensation packages and Obama introduces the concept of merit pay for teachers. Why is it that the people at the top are NEVER held accountable? We are talking about the siphoning away of billions and billions of our hard earned money. Screw David Broder and the Village idiots he rode in on, we are frakking angry and we’re going to stay that way.
Now, short of violence, vandalism and death threats, go forth and get angry. The times require it.
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Filed under: Economy | Tagged: 9/11, anger, fear, preparation |
The Confluence 
Obamette has told us to eat cake, and stlll we sit typing. typing. typing.
Perhaps when the cake runs out, we will do something. Perhaps not. I still remember the OJ verdict and to this day I cannot understand why women did not revolt and why the streets did not turn red. Perhaps we have lost the will to rebel. Perhaps we have forgotten how to rebel. Perhaps we have not been pushed enough. Perhaps. Perhaps not.
We’re too entertained and too well fed.
People started to rebel against Bush when filling up that SUV cost just as much as 2 weeks worth of groceries.
What’ll be the tipping point now? There’s enough unemployment and depleted retirement savings wrath to fuel a massive protest, but we have no central organization.
Obama took all the progressive/left organizations and put them in his pocket. He’s converted them from powerful protest vehicles to lap dogs.
He disarmed us on purpose.
Exactly, sm. Also, great post, RD. More like that, please. It’s really time to get organized. The support is with us now. Greta showed real footage of the groups protesting yesterday. In thirty cities. “Enough” is a good rallying cry.
Of course, Obama coopted it by using it on Leno last night.
Regarding your comment, sm, I’ve been thinking about how they’ve coopted those who might finally speak up and protest the destruction of our lives and money. They knew exactly what they were doing, and that’s why they chose Obama.
He’s perfect. First, who goes out to protest. The youth, the angry left. So give them Obama. Then it’s African-Americans, a vocal minority, who won’t take this silently. Unless, of course, it’s Obama, doing it to them.
And women? We’ve been sitting back and taking it for thousands of years. I think it has something to do with the absence of testosterone – no, seriously. Being aggressive isn’t part of female hormonal makeup – unless our young are being threatened (see animals). Though, even when our young are threatened, as now, economically, or being sent to be killed in useless wars, women have also been brainwashed to rationalize this.
So I like the new anger is good meme. Righteous anger. That’s been socialized out by the people afraid of it.
Excellent point, SM77l, about the organizations which would have fueled protest being co-opted. I fear to say this, but I think it will take massive numbers of people being deprived of basic necessities. I agree with Jennifor4Hilll that the majority are still too well fed and entertained. But that will disappear soon. And when it does it won’t be pretty.
Obamette has told us to eat cake
I thought it was waffles.
“Let them eat waffles!”
Great post.
Fear is not conducive to good decision making, and it has been and is continuing to be used to allow politicians to do things they otherwise wouldn’t be able to do.
We rushed into the Iraq War out of fear, and we allowed the presidency to consolidate powers and take away our rights out of fear.
Now, we are allowing our government to pass legislation without reading it out of fear. We are also allowing millions and billions to be transferred to failing companies without fulling understanding the scope of the problem, or taking the time to question whether or not it is the best approach, again out of fear.
Who was it who said we have nothing to fear but fear itself? Perhaps those were more than just words to him. Perhaps he knew that decisions based on fear often don’t result in good long term results. Perhaps he knew that excessive fear would take away our freedoms and destroy the foundations this country was built on (the Constitution, the warnings of our founding fathers, the separation of powers, everything this country was founded on could be discarded over fear of another terrorist attack or an economic meltdown).
You say that *we* are “letting” our government do it, but what control do we have? All we have is our votes and our letters and phone calls. They ignore us. I’m not accepting the blame.
The politicians (corporate elite, lobbyist and other power brokers) deserve the lion’s share of the blame. We also have a complicit media which makes it difficult to discern the truth.
However, we as a society in general (without placing blame on specific individuals) seem pretty willing to just go along with whatever we’re told needs to be done. Many politicians who are clearly in the pocket of special interests continue to get elected over and over again, while attaining ever greater levels of influence and power in Washington.
I personally don’t care to bash the general populous, because I understand most people are just trying to live their lives the best they can (they are either busy with school, their careers, their children or are juggling multiple roles). And, I have to admit to being totally fooled regarding our need to go into Iraq. But, at this point, I’m a little frustrated that more people didn’t become suspicious of the outright media manipulation during the primaries and the general election, or that they aren’t seeing the similarities with how fear is once again being used (Obama didn’t end the politics of fear, he raised it to a whole new level, he got the idiots in Congress to vote for legislation without even reading it, and then he waited until the weekend to sign it, and just about no one bothered to ask if the sky would really fall if they demanded at least a day or two to read the bill).
So, I guess you are right, we don’t deserve the blame, but perhaps it would be nice if more or us would start asking questions and contacting our congressmen/women (I believe that every member of congress that voted for the stimulus bill without reading it should be voted out or impeached for failure to adequately exercise the duties of their office).
Sam, I agree.
What happened to organized protest, bb? Remember the protests in the sixties and seventies. Why isn’t it happening now?
I think the only reason the news is covering this story is that a critical number of people were fed up enough, and forced them to cover it. Remember, it was mentioned in January and February. I remember after the first bank bailout, being told it was for the benefit of “Main St.”, then banks did not begin lending again, no one knew where the money went, and dems began saying they would be held accountable before releasing the second $350K. Then…????wtf happened? Obama’s guys convinced them to not make waves. Bonuses were only one small part of them pushing Congress to quickly release the money. I remember hearing this and thinking wtf at that time.
I’m wondering how this finally became a big story. Does anyone know wo started it? And if Obots (the usual protestors, including MoveOn, etc.) won’t protest now, can we? Do we have the will, the numbers, the motivation, the leaders? I regret to say we probably don’t. Though if some leaders would step up, I think we could get support from many out there, fuming in their homes. Remember Hill’s 18 million?
Speaktruth,
There have been protests, and the media doesn’t cover them. I just don’t think protesting in the streets is working anymore. Maybe it would work on a local level, but I think we have to find other ways to get the attention of the powers that be now. I do think blogs have influence; and I believe the presence on the internet of so many of us who critiqued and will continue to critique Obama has an effect.
Maybe the protests should be aimed at the media? A couple of dozen picketers/protesters at various media outlet offices 24-7?
I truly believe that the only way out of this is for the people to “convince” the media to do its job.
We do have a few other things at our disposal. Those who have their checking and savings accounts at these gigantic banks can move the money to small local banks that are not in trouble because they did not use dishonest methods to break us. Those big banks will fall for lack of customers and we can go back to feeling confident our money is safer.
Stop patronizing the big boxes and gigantic industries long enough to let them know who really runs things.
With all the money in the hands of these greedy folks, it will never get back into the economy. They are misers who just want to own everything and everyone. If it was the last job on earth, I would not work for one of these guys.
Our economy was just fine back in the day when Citigroup, JPMorgan/Chase, BofA, etc. didn’t dominate the money industry. They blew it and we should take away their control.
Who was it who said we have nothing to fear but fear itself? The guy who handled our other great depression, FDR. If only a leader like FDR was at the helm of this one instead of “stupid is as stupid does” Soertoro/Obama we might not be so fearful.
I’m listening to the podcast right now, but just based on your description, I have quite enough anger and outrage to spread around. I don’t have to choose specific targets. I can be angry at Congress, the SEC, Obama, Geithner, Bernanke, etc., all at once. I don’t have to focus on one thing and let the others go.
Yup, Bremer has set up a false dichotomy; I can be angry about the bonuses AND the billions Wall St. is paying itself through ‘counterparties’ AND Bush & Co. who set us up for this mess AND the corrupt DNC which gave us the last person on earth who can handle it AND worry about my susbsistence & food & shelter. Heck, I can do all that before breakfast on any given day.
Esp. for women, the injunction against anger is dangerous; we’ve been told all our lives it’s not ‘feminine’ or ‘womanly’ to have or express anger. So women turn it in on themselves and become depressed. Which helps no one except anti-depressant manufacturers. Well, scr*w that.
— Maxine Waters
I don’t think we’ve gotten angry enough, frankly. Forget Obama’s weak-*ss ‘contract busting’ rhetoric on the bonuses; we should be shouting and screaming to clawback all of the $2 trillion we gave to the banks.
Unfortunately, Maxine Waters apparently channeled a lot of money to a bank she is associated with, but I agree with her quote.
I can even be angry about torture and the failure to investigate 9/11 at the same time as I’m angry about the economic situation.
BB–totally off topic, but as a birder, I like your new avatar. Is it a warbler? The picture is so small it’s difficult to tell. Anyway, I’m waiting for the warblers to arrive, so it cheers me up everytime I see your avatar. Good choice!
Grayslady,
I like birdwatching too. That bird is a Western Meadowlark. I used it because it reminds me of two states I loved as a child. North Dakota where I was born and spent time with relatives and Kansas where I spent my early childhood.
It’s nice to see you Valhalla. I’ve missed you lately.
I’ve been lurking around, I just have a lot of stupid RL stuff going on lately so haven’t been commenting so much. Things will calm down soon (I hope) so you’ll be seeing more of me soon!
That’s good to know!
I think that a huge part of the problem is that people viewed the situation as hopeless. The problems seem so big and our system is so deeply entrenched in them that it appears impossible to fix. Which may be why some bought into the hope veneer of an incompetent and amoral candidate’s campaign. It provided an easy fix. One that didn’t require them to do anything other than vote. But now people are seeing that nothing changed and their comfort levels are being pressed to extremes.
That’s why we’re starting to hear the cries of dissatisfaction, and even mention of the “r” word. IMO, 2010 will be the time for Independents and third parties to make a run for office. People are getting angry and the time for true change is finally on the horizon.
You’re right, but the meltdown could be irreversible before the 2010 elections, so we really need popular anger to be expressed in other ways. If it is expressed with riots, the government will use the excuse to crack down. I’m not sure what the answer is.
One way is peaceful marches, passive resistance, as in MLK, Ghandi. We could brainstorm on other ways, too. We need a MoveOn type organization. The point is that we would get popular support now. We need to keep up the pressure. As I’ve been saying for a while, we need some good PR. Some leaders. And of course, some money would help. What about people like Rothschild. She might be quiet because Hill’s part of the admin. And her wealth could make her aligned with the bank interests.
I think what will really get their attention is tax revolts and protests of people being evicted. I think those things are coming unless Obama and Geithner start to take the situation more seriously.
Did anybody see the Aol article on the polls results of a possible Palin/Obama in 2012? I do not care for the results (which by the way where “not even close in favor of O. ReallY?) but I thought that the whole thing was very revealing.
A) they are already gearing for the reelection campaign. (we knew that)
B) They are scared sh…less by Palin. And will not let her get out of the gate.
Which means, if Palin is scaring them that bad, that the (real hidden) numbers are probably not that good for O. Not that I whish for a Republican’s return but I cannot wait to see Pilosi and O out of their jobs. The sooner the better. I’d take Pilosi in 2010.
She turned down 30% of the stimulus package. I don’t know why anyone would think this is the right time to expand unemployment.
I saw a Palin quote soemwhere that Alaska didn’t need the strings that came with the stimulus money … I wonder what she meant.
I can imagine that the WH & the DLC would certainly want to be doing their best to neutralize Palin now (BO — always getting ready for the next election).
A lot of the initiatives in the “stimulus” package are either unfunded or only funded by about 20%. That means states have to come up with the money and then spend it the way the Feds want. That could be the explanation. But I certainly don’t think Palin is the answer in the next election.
BB, I can’t see myself voting for for BO in the next election, which certainly gives the GOP contender an advantage afaiac.
So I hope the GOP picks a moderate, practical problem solver. Palin has impressed me — she could be ready in 3 years.
She is talking about the stimulus to the people of AK and on her website. She wants to avoid money that automatically increases the state government. Also, I think she wants Alaskans to make their own decisions and determine what is right for them. That’s what I gleaned in a quick glance.
After reading about how few of our congress members voted on the bailout without even reading the bill, I find her approach refreshingly intelligent and practical.
oops, should have been: how few of the congress members read the bill before voting….
If you’d like an explanation, just go here and read all about it. At the bottom of the page is link to a presser video where she does a good job of laying out why she wants to turn down the money.
http://www.gov.state.ak.us/news.php?id=1717
What makes you think turning down parts of the stimulus will expand unemployment? When those portions have nothing to do with jobs?
She’s such a sensible, practical person.
Thanks for the link.
Texas Governor has also stated he would like Tx. to turn down 155million in stimulus money because of the strings attached. He states if unemployment is paid to part-time workers small business will suffer.
FrenchNail, I’m thrilled to read your post because I’ve been saying this for months. Palin has huge grassroots support and she is scaring the cr@p out of the powers that be.
There’s absolutely no way that I’ll ever vote for Oblahblah, so I’m hoping Palin is the Republicans 2012 candidate and not Jeb.
But that’s the way it’s ordained to go. B0 is Bush III and is in so far over his head that in 2012, anything will look better. Of course, Jeb is Bush IV.
Please remove me from the moderation room. Thanks! 🙂
Fear and anger are useful to motivate oneself but it’s always better to proceed
with some plan in mind. When you have the adrenaline pumping in that old fight or flight mechanism- you better have some part of your mind that’s making intelligent decisions.
I don’t trust MOST of the government to provide the “cooler heads will prevail”
portion( and Wall Street seems to be operating only from greed) so perhaps
it’s only down here at the street level that we will be able to help ourselves and our neighbors if the economy goes totally bust.
Here’s the thing, (channeling Adrian Monk) even our anger and outrage is being stage managed and marketed. “Tea parties” feel like productions, not demonstrations. Until our shared disappointment and disillusionment spontaneously combusts into something real, those who get paid to anticipate and neutralize our dissent in advance will continue to misdirect our attention to areas and methods of expression that are safe for them.
That is right, Cinie. It is all fricking mind-f*ck shenanigans…
Indeed.
“those who get paid to anticipate and neutralize our dissent in advance”–Cinie
Yup. The day psychological manipulation becomes an exact technology is the day liberty dies once and for all. 😦
Listening to Ian Bremer’s argument being described right now. I love the way powerful elites refer to “populism” with such contempt. A lot of what I hear in what he and other elites are saying is simply distraction. I don’t see the “popular anger” as being directed at Liddy (recently appointed head of AIG). I hear plenty of people directing anger at the SEC and other causes of the problem. The compensation packages are just a symbol.
Ian is emphasizing the need for the President, Congress, and the media to focus on the real dangers for the economy. I agree with him there. But I disagree with him that the government has no ability to abrogate the contracts with the people who caused the problems. Why is it ok to break contracts with workers then?
It is convenient politically for the Congressional leaders and MSM pundits to ‘act’ as if the populism is directed at Liddy. They would not admit that we are angry at them.
AIG is suing the U.S. Goverment (AIG’s majority shareholder) for $306 million.
This little suit was slipped in before their latest fiasco when they thought they could get away with anything and the concept of public ownership had not sunk into their thick skulls.
From Market Ticker
I think Obama thought he could get away with giving the banks everything they wanted. Soon he will either learn that he has give the “people” something or he will quickly begin losing support and with it his power. Actually, the resistance is building up a lot faster than I ever expected. When you hit people in they wallet, suddenly they start to wake up and pay attention.
Obama needs the (financial) support of Wall Street to finance his reelection. Hence Geithner, the so well connected.
Did anybody ask themselves why is it that out of the 17 key positions needed at the treasury to run the country at any time, no less in time of financial crisis, ZERO has been filled. Not even one name has been announced for confirmation yet.
Well, could it be that Geithner does not want any witnesses to his “negociations” with the wall street players?
Don’t tell me that NOBODY can fulfill those 17 key positions.
The lack of personnel is so bad there that Gordon had to intervene because his Secretary of Treasury had called our Treasury, had gotten an answering machine, left a message and had still not been called back for 3 days. You cannot make this s..t up!
That’s insightful. I bet you’re right.
My theory yesterday was that Geithner was picked (and paid) to be the fall guy for any scandal that comes out of this raiding, so he hasn’t bothered to pick a staff, since he knows he’ll be heading for an island paradise soon.
That is an interesting piece. A retired judge I know yesterday said some stuff that has had me thinking and the ramifications go much further. These businesses operate within the protection of the US. They use our courts, military, diplomacy, basically the entire infrastructure of the country to operate very successfully in the US and outside as well. In turn they cheat, evade taxes, expect special treatment, try to buy off the peoples government, rig the courts, and essentially are the worst citizens that a country can have. They are basically no better than the drug cartels except for physical violence but have no problem threatening economic disaster which may be worse in some ways.
This is what people instinctively know and is what is making everyone so furious. It is a violation all of our citizenship that manifests itself into the obscene, threatening selfishness that feeds upon what we all provide that has so been misused. There is no remorse nor any attempt to rectify their betrayal. have I have very awkwardly phrased his insight but provided the general outline.
Along thos elines, you should see the dvd The Corporation if you haven’t yet.
http://www.thecorporation.com/
Well said. And they act that way because they know they can get away with it. They own the country, and have done for generations.
Funny, just yesterday I was thinking that the bailout money is like giving government money to a drug cartel to keep producing crack, except with the cartel you actually get a product at the end. Paying Wall St. just gets you a bunch of toxic paper.
So, Liddy was lying again when he told congress that they were requesting the recipients of the bonuses return half, if not all, because they were receiving threats and he was concerned for their personal safety, as well as the safety of their families.
This lawsuit should certainly end any concern over people being angry enough to want to hurt these guys. NOT!
I needed a break from my perpetual depression and jumped over to DipNote to see what our foreign president is up to. What a relief and encouragement it is to have such an accomplished SoS, there is hope for our country. Too bad they can’t let Hillary sit at the table w/ Geithner et al to clean up our economic crisis. We tried to warn them, they wouldn’t listen.
Thanks RD for another terrific post. I’m not scared, I’m just weary.
Me too. It’s downright to depressing to realize that neither party is the solution to our country’s problems.
Amen to that!
I told my mother yesterday that we weren’t panicking, that we were DOING! (moving money out of bad places, metals, planting that garden with passion….)
In short, take control where you can!!
Let’s brighten the grimness with this….
“Get in the Mood…It’s SPRING!! ”
American Lassies gets it right…there’s a whole world out there in nature not worrying about AIG, etc. We have to really put ourselves in that place mentally, stop worrying, and start taking action to “preserve” ourselves as human beings…
Lost in moderation???
Oops..FOUND!! LOL!!
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/first100days/2009/01/22/obama-suprises-white-house-press-corps-visit-briefing-room/
WASHINGTON — President Obama paid a surprise visit to members of the White House press corps Thursday evening when he walked through their working area of the West Wing, but he quickly became agitated when he was confronted with a question by one of the journalists.
According to reports, when the Politico’s Jonathan Martin asked the president about his nominee for deputy secretary of defense, William Lynn, Obama refused to answer, saying he was not there to take questions.
“I came down here to visit. I didn’t come down here — this is what happens. I can’t end up visiting you guys and shaking hands if I am going to grilled every time I come down here,” the president said.
Pressed further by the Politico reporter about his Pentagon nominee, Obama turned more serious, putting his hand on the reporter’s shoulder and staring him in the eye.
“All right, come on,” he said, with obvious irritation in his voice. “We will be having a press conference, at which time you can feel free to [ask] questions. Right now, I just wanted to say hello and introduce myself to you guys — that’s all I was trying to do,” Politico.com reported.
The situation came to a close when a cameraman in the room interrupted, declaring: “I’d like to say it one more time: ‘Mr. President.'”
Isn’t this an old one? Don’t tell me he did it again!
That article is from January.
my bad 😉 I followed something through FOX and could have sworn it said it was NEWS
not OLD NEWS
What is there to be angry about? The American voter bought into this hype and elected this man president against all reason when it was pointed out repeatedly that he was just not ready. Producing a resume that could have been written on the back of an envelope did nothing to stir the overall impression that this was The One, the “person we have all been waiting for”, even though he had nothing in his background to suggest that he had the qualifications to take on this role at this stage of the game.
And just what was the need to have him make an appearance on the Leno Show? Some have suggested that this was a way to attempt to “sell” the country on his ambitions. That sale was made on November 4th when the nation held its breath and elected this man, hoping to see change. We have no control over what is being done in our name.
There is little that we can do. We are stuck with this decision and all those going forward for the next 4 years and beyond. His picks for cabinet and other noteworthy posts have been lackluster. Washington is operating in its usual mode of bickering and one upmanship. Those who surround him have had a hand in the creation of this debacle but there is plenty of blame to spread around on both sides.
We have no idea where this money is going. We have no clue as to how it will be applied. But we do know that we have been snookered and lied to and that accountability will never be sought since those hands in the cookie jar belong to the same dolts who led us into this quagmire in the first place.
He is doing what he has been credited with doing best: taking advantage of public appearances where the lucky crowd gets a moment of face time with The One. He needs the smell of the greasepaint and the roar of the crowd. This is his idea of leadership.
Anger? Best direct it at ourselves for allowing the manipulation of this former candidate to overtake the critical thinking needed to place the stewardship of this nation into the hands of untried performers.
It may take awhile for the critics to react since it was through their insistence that he is where he is today. And as the public slowly comes to realize that perhaps they have made an error in judgment once again, their anger had best be self directed as well. This is no remake of MLK, JFK, FDR at the helm. It is a second rate politician whose ambitions far outweighed his abilities.
Resignation overcomes my anger. There is not a damned thing we can do about it but adjust our thinking, as we did with Bush, by counting the days when this will be over. And judging by the degree of ineptitude coming out of both sides I do not envision for one minute a candidate coming forth that offers a dissimilar vision. A sorry state of affairs all around.
Pat, you sound like I feel.
((((Pat))))
It wasn’t me. I didn’t vote for him. I wonder how many times I will be saying this before we get a President I believe in.
None of us did. Pat, you’re not responsible. We were the voices crying in the wilderness. Now other people are waking up. There is still hope!
OH HECK, you need to put that in a POST!
Amen.
Who exactly can we count when both parties are complicit with one another? It’s the DemoPublican Party that’s running DC.
Who do we trust?
Who do we turn to?
And it’s not a Democrat vs. Republican thing. It’s a Elite Ruling class vs. Peons that pay taxes thing.
It’s a class war.
And Amen to that, too!
As much as Ralph Nader drives me ’round the bend, he has been spot on for years decrying the absence of meaningful differences between the corporate Democrat and Republican parties.
Obama, like most Dems these days, will say the right things and sign an order or two to address social issues long supported by lefties. And he will change the tone and appearance of federal power at home and abroad.
But, make no mistake, whether supporting the money class here or a hawkish foreign policy abroad, the Democrats these days no longer champion the interests of 95% of us.
That was my conclusion several years ago when I re-registered as a Green. This year I temporarily registered as a Dem to support HRC in the primary. The next day I went down to the elections office and changed back.
Well said, Pat.
I second that this should be a post, or in a post.
Pat,
All of that IS what I’m angry about.
Amen Pat J — and I third that this should be expanded into a post.
Fourth it. We have our sisters who are working on a new womens movement, hopefully one that bears fruit for our next generation of women. Now, I’d like to see some movement or discussion of government reform(and by government reform I don’t mean the campy talk that we just seem to hear right before an election cycle.) I’d like to see us address or discuss avenues to change the cycle where we exchange one republicrat for another.
Sometimes when injustice is being committed, the most we can do is bear witness.
That is not a small thing.
While the propaganda machine tried to make us believe up is down and sh*t is chocolate, we still hold on to the truth and keep each other sane.
“Obama asked about the reasoning behind why certain media outlets had work space where they did. When he got an answer involving the intricacies of press corps protocol, Obama responded: “This is worse than the Middle East here — who’s sitting where and all that stuff.”
Say what???
I am in moderation.
RD: Thanks so much for mentioning that executive’s contract’s seem to be inviolable while auto workers’ are expendable. If some do not need to give for the good of the whole, then why should any?
We were angry after 9/11. That’s how the majority was manipulated to believe Iraq was right. The big thing is see is to make your anger productive. Channel it and use it. Make sure it is not misdirected. It'[s sad because as a liberal I have always believed government was part of the solution. I’m at a point where I believe that at this particular juncture what we have is no longer functional for the majority of us. We’re almost on our own. (Congratulations to the Republican putzes who wanted to drown our government, you succeeded and now we are stuck with a bunch of braindead folk unable to implement effective policy)
So, so true.
cwaltz,
I think we need to remind ourselves that we actually have made a difference in terms of the national conversation. What if we hadn’t spoken out during the primaries and general election? We managed to change the discourse by forcing Obama and his Obots to respond to us. We are still a thorn in their side.
Conflucians are reporting that friends and family members are now starting to admit we were right. At least we contributed to public awareness of Obama’s shortcomings. It may have been to little to late to prevent his election to the presidency, but it’s not too late to have some influence by using our present on the internet and helping to raise the consciousness of people we know.
I don’t believe the majority ever believed invading Iraq was right. GWB and Cheney did what they wanted to do despite protests against an attack in every corner of the world.
I also don’t believe that the majority of people in this country think Obama is awesome. He had to cheat to get the nomination, and he had to play the dirtiest game ever by attacking the opposing candidate’s VP during the general. Had this country not been so eager to destroy the female candidates for both parties, O wouldn’t have gotten close to the WH and probably would have lost his re-election campaign for his Senate seat.
I don’t buy into polls, or media. The gov’t is going to continue its fear campaign until we are completely broken down and have nothing left to fight with if we don’t get busy now. People need to march on WA DC.
Loved watching the video clip yesterday of Sarah Palin explaining why the state of Alaska was refusing 1/2 of the stimulus money marked for them. This gets much worse, and I’m moving to Alaska.
There was a majority of support for Iraq
Click to access 918a1WarwithIraq.pdf
It sucks but the narrative is run by a selectfewandit was in their interest to wage war. The majorityofAmericans bought into it, just as they bought into Obama’s change. It’s a sad fact ofrealitybut there it is.
Well, there you go…an ABC News Poll.
As I said, I don’t buy into polls or media. Particularly, when I can’t find a living soul who represents the findings.
You know what questions they asked in this poll to get the approval numbers they wanted?
While O flounders, Hillary is being celebrated wherever she goes 🙂
Clinton named Global Trailblazer
Despite the night’s star power—and although additional awards were presented to women leaders from Afghanistan, Nigeria, Cambodia and the Democratic Republic of Congo—it in every way belonged to Clinton, beginning with a touching video tribute and capped with a standing ovation that lasted nearly two minutes when she appeared on stage. Even heartthrob Affleck failed to garner half as much applause.
[Nice comment by Affleck] Affleck, did, however get a big round of applause when he said, “As along as violence against women—sexual or otherwise—remains strictly and exclusvely a ‘women’s issue’ it will always be an issue. We men must own this and we must recognize that it is vital to our own survival and we must help our brothers see it as such.”
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0309/20272.html
Affleck does make a good point. I beginning to think Hicks was right when she said Obama should have a council on Men and boys.
Whether or not Affleck is sincere, it’s nice to hear a man recognize that it is an important issue to champion–Obama certainly has not led on it.
He helped keep HRC away from Obama’s right to the oval office. Affleck was the first to make a big deal out of creating a campaign ad for Obama…I think it was a contest of sorts. Since he got his man in the WH, he’s free to say whatever he wants, his actions just don’t back it up as a sincere sentiment. Then, that’s just my opinion.
I think this group can probably come up with about a thousand questions for Fraud:
What Would You Ask The President?
In an effort to foster broader, more diverse participation and representation in presidential press conferences, the folks at The Nation, The Washington Times and the Personal Democracy Forum have launched a new site, Ask The President, and are calling on the White House to include citizen generated questions at their pressers.
http://www.thealbanyproject.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=6041
My question: How do you feel about caucus fraud, and cheating to win elected office?
OT:
Kolan McConiughey, a Special Olympics competitor who has bowled three perfect 300 games, tells TMZ that the Prez has to score a lot higher than 129 to beat him. Kolan says he bowls an average of 266.
Kolan said he’d love to go to the White House to beat Barack on his own lane. Kolan said, “He’s cool, but he can’t beat me.”
We’re calling the White House to see if Barack is ready to roll.
http://www.tmz.com
HELP!! moderation!! HBG/ABG is making goo goo eyes at me!
SM: Don’t diss him. You could very well be looking at your New Year’s date!
Pat, I love you like crazy loves the Octomom, but DON’T SAY THAT.
Read this great article by Matt Taibbi of Rolling Stone called, “The Big Takeover”. Very, very informative. The best narrative I have seen.
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/26793903/the_big_takeover
It is a mind blower!
Taibbi was a champion of Obama during the primaries. As much as I love his snark, he had a hand in electing this squirrel with his praise that sometimes went over the top.
“They cemented and formalized a political trend that has been snowballing for decades: the gradual takeover of the government by a small class of connected insiders, who used money to control elections, buy influence and systematically weaken financial regulations.”
I was just going to past the exact same quote sam! Where were you when the primary was stolen Matt?! Oh, I know, you were on Bill Maher’s show, laughing at Hillary and promoting O. Stuff your faux outrage now. Too little too late.
Taibbi was all over MSNBC this morning, too. There wasn’t one word criticizing Obama from him. It was obvious he was choosing his words carefully to avoid mentioning him. He was one of the worst obots, whose book I read and loved two years ago. Then – nothing but a big sellout.
I still would love to know if these people were paid, some other promise, or what.
Still, there is some hope – the fact that more people are getting angry, and some stuff is coming out. There’s still a big coverup, but I do believe that if enough people publicize things (us specifically), some of it will be heard. It really can move now.
Repubs are in a weird position. They want to criticize Dems, but they’re even more on the side of Big Business. Oh, what to do.
The disconnect is unreal. I swear I’d like to shake them and say “you don’t get to rail against the government, when you ARE the government”(a la Delay). Everytime Obama opens his mouth about Washington DC I want to tell him to stuff a sock in it. If he doesn’t like the way it operates, get out or do something to change it. Talk is cheap. Furthermore it is getting tiresome for his supporters to insist that Obama is powerless and all of this is going on around him without him being complicit. There are only two options a) he is part of the problem and as corrupt as the rest and you were duped or b) he and his supporters(ie folks like Taibibi are incompetent and inept, him at the leadership job and them at choosing leadership(irony police since they leveled the same accusations at the GOP and its power brokers).
That is a required read. May be Taibbi is a squirel, but this is a great article.
I guess we can always hope Taibbi will wake up and throw the Vichy water in the wastebasket–but I would not suggest holding one’s breath waiting for that.
It looks like Peggy Noonan’s crush is waning too. Check out Janet Napolitano’s quote about “the politics of fear,” speaking about fear. I guess now, in the age of Axelrove, even carefully chosen talking points and propaganda phrases will deter terrorism (oops, I said the bad word!).
Neither a Hedgehog Nor a Fox
The unbearable lightness of Obama’s administration.
This in part is why the teleprompter trope is taking off. Mr. Obama uses it more than previous presidents. No one would care about this or much notice it as long as he showed competence, and the promise of success… But the teleprompter trope has taken off: Why does he always have to depend on that thing?
—
So one wonders why, say, the president does not step in and insist on staffing the top level of his Treasury Department, where besieged Secretary Tim Geithner struggles without deputies through his 15-hour days. Might AIG and the bonus scandals have been stopped or discovered sooner if Treasury had someone to answer the phones? Leadership is needed here. Not talkership, leadership.
—
Contrast it with the new secretary of homeland security, Janet Napolitano, who, in her first speech and testimony to congress, the same week as Mr. Mueller’s remarks, did not mention the word terrorism once. This week in an interview with Der Spiegel, she was pressed: “Does Islamist terrorism suddenly no longer pose a threat to your country?” Her reply: “I presume there is always a threat from terrorism.” It’s true she didn’t use the word terrorism in her speech, but she did refer to “man-caused” disasters. “This is perhaps only a nuance, but it demonstrates that we want to move away from the politics of fear.”
These are the two great issues, the economic crisis and our safety. In the face of them, what strikes one is the weightlessness of the Obama administration, the jumping from issue to issue and venue to venue from day to day. Isaiah Berlin famously suggested a leader is a fox or a hedgehog. The fox knows many things but the hedgehog knows one big thing. In political leadership the hedgehog has certain significant advantages, focus and clarity of vision among them. Most presidents are one or the other. So far Mr. Obama seems neither.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123750000839989123.html
Folks, remember the FRENCH revolution and don’t confuse it with the American Revolution. We have a French-type revolution coming in this country if the elites don’t change the dynamic, and it will be literally “off with their heads” and there won’t be too many tears shed when all the vampires in this society are finally staked out.
Yep. I agree with you. It might take 10 or 20 years but it’s could very well happen.
With all the anger in the land
How long before the Judgment day?
Before we cut the fat ones down to size?
Before the barricades arise?
OT
Special Olympics statement on The Great Orator’s “joke” on Leno last night:
Click to access 0320_so_statement.pdf
Thank you for that. This is really getting under my skin.
He is one clueless pr*ck.
That’s why they keep him on a leash-without the teleprompter his true soul shines out.
Hammer. Nail. Bang!
Finally, we invite the President to take the lead and consider hiring a Special Olympics athlete to
work in the White House. In so doing, he could help end misperceptions about the talents and
abilities of people with intellectual disabilities, and demonstrate their dignity and value to the world.
Good one
It may just be time for a nation-wide Howard Beale moment.
Read the blogs on the Right and they are dissing Obama and his policies without real solutions to offer. Yet they are complaining loudly and clearly that those bonuses are sacrosanct and should be paid. No mention of the Repubs hand in any of this but the moans of a party out of office.
Read the blogs from the Left and you hear the outrage against Wall Street with few solutions to offer beyond trusting Obama and hating Bush/Paulson. Again, no mention of the Dems hand in any of this but the moans of a party who are rudderless.
Read the blogs from those of us in the middle who basically predicted the turn of events by placing the reins of power over to a man whose track record was questionable and the pulse of the nation is heard. No one has an answer because no one knows how this pyramid was first created. All that is evident that instead of Wall Street remaining the financial banker they turned into nothing short of crap shooters doubling down at the table with nothing to lose. Playing with somebody else’s money offers few risks and can be fun at the same time.
Regulation is needed even if it poses nothing more than a barrier to the fox eyeing the henhouse. Once in awhile the fox sneaks in but it takes a little more effort to succeed.
The question is how do you get regulation when the people in Washington ignore you. The majority of the country did not want bailouts. Guess what? They ignored us. They ignore us alot. They figure they only need to pay attention to the American people 2 months out of the 24 month election cycle. Both parties have become parodies…..of that there is little to no doubt. If you talk to everyday GOP members they will outright tell you their party is without leadership. The DNC has had many of the Dems fooled but alot of folks are starting to wake up and realize they don’t have solutions either. The question is what do we do in the interim while waiting for an alternative to awful choice a and bad choice b(or are we doomed to go back and forth between bad and awful because no one has the courage or belief that a third choice will succeed where choice a and b fail ala’ Nader)
Pat, you got to read the Taibbi article. This is mind blowing. Not only we are where we are because of deregulation started under Clinton and continued under Bush, but things are even getting worse and worse now. Its not about deregulation now, it’s about no regulation at all and no supervision.
Again, how are they supporting these contracts while recommending the dissolution of union contracts?
Technically the union contracts haven’t been dissolved. That was why there was alot of talk of bankruptcy and restructuring because then a judge could dissolve the contracts. Otherwisethe concessions from union would need to be voluntary.
That being said it does amuse me that bullying working class people who have contracts into accepting concessions and then arguing that management shouldn’t have to make concessions because they have contracts that should be upheld is the height of hypocrisy and an exposure of the typical double standard between the haves and the rest of us who are just managing to squeak by.
Pat gets it right except for one thing: neither the Democratic Party establishment nor the blogs that serve it are really Leftist, except by the bizarre standards of the USA.
In most other Western more-or-less democracies, the US Left would be considered Center, the US Center would be considered Right, and the US Right would be considered Nazi-wannabes.
Great post RD….seems to me anger WORKS oh so much better on our supposed masters in DC than anything else….we will starve if we wait for them to behave decently without at least a pitch fork rattle .
Public anger got Bush to back off stealing Social Security for Wall St in 05 and isn’t it nice SS wasn’t tied in with the market during this meltdown? And anger over the bonuses has been the only thing they have listen to during the unending string of bailout give aways.
To me the bailouts ARE bonuses to those who ran companies into the ground ….so the bonus on top are a bonus too far.
STAY ANGERY children!! It’s the only thing they listen to!
Thanks to the dumbing down of America this is what we are stuck with. thanks to mountaires at no quarter for this link.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2009/03/obama-newspapers.html/
Never in my life did I think that someone this bad could be selected as president of my country.
WOMEN WITH INTELLIGENCE AND EXPERIENCE, MEN WHO SUPPORT THEM AND COUNTRY BEFORE PARTY ALWAYS
PUMAS,BUBBAS,EQUALISTS AND THOSE PEOPLE RULE
I do not know why the link won’t work but the story is
backtrack getting a newspaper award and having the ceremony closed to the press.
WOMEN WITH INTELLIGENCE AND EXPERIENCE,MEN WHO SUPPORT THEM AND COUNTRY BEFORE PARTY ALWAYS
PUMAS,BUBBAS,EQUALISTS AND THOSE PEOPLE RULE
It’s weird that the link doesn’t work. I found thr article by googling “la times obama newspaper”
Ah, more Kool-Aid withdrawal signs:
“The sluggish and unsteady response to the uproar over AIG bonuses highlights a larger problem of his White House: Obama’s surprisingly uneven campaign to educate people about the economic crisis and convince Washington and the broader public that he is in command of circumstances.”
….Kinda hard to do, considering he’s obviously incompetent.
“Obama needs lawmakers and voters alike to view the world through his prism, and to accept his analysis of what’s wrong and his priorities about how to make it right.”
…..OBAMA needs? What happened to what AMERICA needs?
“If someone asked the president, he would be honest,” the Obama aide said.
…….Uh, yeah. Sure.
And lots more hilarious (anger-inducing) examples in the article.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0309/20234.html
While everyone was focused on the AIG mess the house just passed a bill 321-105 that is on the way to the senate.
It is called the GIVE act. mandatory volunteers like a draft for young people.
WOMEN WITH INTELLIGENCE AND EXPERIENCE, MEN WHO SUPPORT THEM AND COUNTRY BEFORE PARTY ALWAYS
PUMAS,BUBBAS,EQUALISTS AND THOSE PEOPLE RULE
I think that bill has the potential to topple over all the dominoes or be the straw the breaks the camel’s back once people start talking about it. Parents invest a lot of time and energy into their children’s futures. Many parents spend hours on end at sporting events and hiring tutors so their children can get into the best schools. If this program should dare interfere with those plans, then the people really will pick up pitch forks.
sam, you have an excellent point. Hell parents get pissed off when a school’s spring break messes up thier vacation plans! At least they did when people took vacations that weren’t called unemployment
and another thing….you have parents already furious over no child left behind .When Hill was on the stump, nothing got the roar of approval from the crowd like dumping no child left behind …parents are ready to blow.
Volunteerism isn’t MANDATORY.
This reeks of Hitler Youth Camps.
I CAN’T nor will allow my child to participate in this.
Yet another Obama oxymoron: Mandatory volunteer,
If you read section VI of the bill, it also opens up mandatory “volunteer” service for older folks, too. The baby boomer generation is mentioned specifically. I volunteer to do things all of the time, but I’ll go to jail before I do mandatory service. Free room and board. Maybe I can have the cell Martha redecorated.
One of the local branches of a state agency here in NC is already trying that. The office has been hiring retired people, as well as those who did not work for the agency or at all, as far as I know, under some sort of “Utilize Our Seniors” program.
The receptionist for the office is one of the latter. She is the point person for an office so understaffed its permanent personnel have taken to circuit riding – they’re in one county 3 days a week and in the next the other two. The offices are closed the days they’re not there. This is during a time of historically high demand for the department’s services.
The lady unfortunately does not keep good track of who came in when and what they need and does bring much of the “men earned government services, women didn’t” attitude of the American culture of her past. Her ignoring women was excused by the staff due to her age, coupled with disapproval that someone so old should even be criticized.
Just one bit of practical experience with the brave new world the Obots have given us.
Missed this post….it’s HR. 1388 and there is more info and a petition to sign/free fax to the Senate…
See below in this thread for the info and link…
I just called one of my senators about it.
(And I can’t believe my GOP congresscritter voted FOR it! @ss!)
Yep. I read that this mornng. Mandatory voluntarism and Uniforms at the discretion of the local “cell” director.
This guy does not know America at all. He strongly believes America is like Chicago or LA. Triy to tell any rural Americans that their children have a mandatory participation in voluntarism programms at school and wear the same Tshits, and you’ll see the result!!!
They’re calling it a ‘cell’?
Maybe it’s just me, but that immediately takes my mind to terror groups.
I dont’t think the language of cell is openly used in the bill but who are they kidding. This is directly taken out of communism guerilla techniques ala alinsky.
I heard that Mrs. Obama will be picking the “uniforms”.
Sleveless?
My kids had a mandatory 50 hours of community service requirement to graduate from high school (1996 and 2001). I resented that so much that we just ignored it and they still graduated.
I am very active in charitable work, and both of my now adult children are as well….because they saw it as part of life, not because the school attempted to force them into it.
If they make it a law for me, I will stop all current activities. The charities are complaining now that they are struggling for monetary donations, they will really be screaming when they lose their volunteers over this.
This is wrong on so many levels, and I say this as a woman who has volunteered in several organizations and sees the value in that people of all ages. But it doesn’t sit right. I have a 10 year old daughter and I would eat my shoes before I would let PSB0 conscript her for anything. In fact, I would think about moving out of the country if it looked like he could gain control of any aspect of her life.
More breaking news…
House Passes HR 1388 Under Cover of AIG Diversion –The Linchpin in the Obama Plan to “BUY” Voters …Read What It Says and PLEASE SIGN PETITION TO SENATE NOW!!
This is VERY KEY to Obama’s plan for permanent power..,…
The “mandatory” part is scary. I read a piece on this legislation in my local paper and it didn’t go into the details. (What did I expect from the MSM anyhow?)
Mandatory volunteer service????
For adolescents????
What is it a forerunner to getting them to sign up for the military ????
worse imo, think private contract work as civilians over in Afghanistan or other third world hotspots. This civilian corps is an end run around the unpopularity of the draft.
I was thinking that too.
Somebody in the media has to be too, right? People will see it in the news and people will say no and all will be well….
Yeah. Maybe not.
I’ve thought his plan was permanent power since well before the primaries ended. Never saw anyone else mention it as a concern, so kept my fingers quiet.
His protection brigade seems far greater than any POTUS before him, which is contrary to the myth the media is trying to sell about him being so popular.
I called him the Pied Piper throughout the campaign, and don’t trust him one bit.
TelePromteresident keeps getting more inane (if possible):
-snip-
Obama said his promise to get a dog might have been an empty one: “Listen, this is Washington. That was a campaign promise.”
-snip-
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/text/2008891935_obama20.html
He made a campaign promise to his girls?
I seriously didn’t care about pets in the White House. As far as I’m concerned they can have a WH fish tank.
I could care less too. But I do feel sympathy for the kids who may hear that quote and realize their dad was just triflin’ with them. Bamboozlin’ them. Hoodwinkin’ them. Poor things.
BO is such an idiot. This whole pet dog thing is just fueling speculation that he is secretly Muslim. Just get a dog already.
(Now it would rock if we had a Muslim president, or a Jewish one, or an atheist one, imo — separation of church & state above all)
So basically he is saying: “Don’t believe anything I say.”
Don’t worry–we don’t.
NWLuna, on March 20th, 2009 at 10:50 am
Lordy how hard is it to get a freaking dog OTHERS would care for ? It would help him to get a freaking dog! Barry is one of our greatest allies in bring Barry down. Go Barry!
Gah. I’m still angry as hell, but need to take a mental health day and a deep breath. I think I’ll go read something completely anachronistic and unrelated to current events. Maybe curl up with some Henry James.
For those of us that are on fixed incomes the recent action by the Feds to print one trillion dollars($$$$$$$$$$$$$) could cause horrendous inflation that will send many of us to the “poor farm”. Think about some of the nations that inflation is at a rate of 1,000% and it takes a wheel barrel of money to just buy the wheel barrel. Hopefully, this will not happen, but the potential is there when to much money chases to few goods.
Dakinikat did an excellent post on that the other day here; it may not be that bad. On the other hand, I too worry.
I worry about its effect on oil. Since he made the announcement pump prices have gone up. When oil goes up so do the rest of the items,like food. They are already high from when gas was almost $4. Most of it hasn’t gone down(except during sales cycles).
Gas at the pump where I live went up 10 cents per gallon overnight.
Teleprompter Jesus HEALS!!
SEE HERE: http://typicalpawhitewoman.blogspot.com/
http://michellemalkin.com/2009/03/20/geithner-cant-get-taxes-straight-cant-get-dates-straight/
Okay, okay I know many here don’t like Malkin, but I like going there because she does tend to uncover interesting information at times.
http://www.c-spanarchives.org/library/index.php?main_page=product_video_info&products_id=284395-1&showVid=true&clipStart=7537.81&clipStop=7785.89
Today she’s got a C-Span clip of Geithner discussing the AIG bonus on 03/03/90 (Geithner had formerly claimed he didn’t know about the bonuses until March 10, although I think the current spin is that he didn’t know the full extent and circumstances of the bonuses until then).
I am pretty sure both geitherner and Obama knew all about the bonuses and discussed how to get Dodd to put in the loop hole. I have no doubt whatosever.
I need myiq2xu for information about California law.
If we could recall a sitting governor can we recall Axis Sally Pelosi? She had to have pushed this GIVE bill thru the house.
Mandatory volunteerism sounds like another word for slavery.
If you have no choice what else is it?
WOMEN WITH INTELLIGENCE AND EXPERIENCE,MEN WHO SUPPORT THEM AND COUNTRY BEFORE PARTY ALWAYS
PUMAS,BUBBAS,EQUALISTS AND THOSE PEOPLE RULE
Great post. You know RD & Co — after seeing a bit of Leno?
He really showed his true colors.
It’s everything we saw all along. Scary.
He ummmm, thinks he is a movie star?
But, that’s not the job. Is it?
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/toby_harnden/blog/2009/03/20/top_10_gaffes_by_barack_obama_and_joe_biden_
“Perhaps Barack Obama was just trying to make Joe Biden feel better by dropping his clanger on Jay Leno. Whatever the President was thinking, 60 days into their new administration it’s time for a post-election Obama-Biden Top 10, in reverse order:”
I think the DVD (and lack of press conference/access) was the last straw for some in the British press, they no longer seem to be as friendly towards the administration.
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/toby_harnden/blog/2009/03/19/heckuva_job_timmy__barack_obama_on_timothy_geithner
I just found this gem among the comments left on the “heckuva job timmy” blog entry:
“It’s watching people in the crowd at a tennis match..swivel heading as he goes from teleprompter on the left to teleprompter on the right..brief pause in the middle for a big muugging smile.
The longer the volley, the deeper the BS. Pain in the neck just watching.”
That tacky remark re: the Special Olympics really frosts my cookies. My autistic son (a great little bowler, btw) has more empathy than Obama.
Once again, Bambi has to apologize after the fact for an unscripted, off-the-teleprompter gaffe. His real character is more than evident whenever he speaks off the cuff.
BO is simply not a nice person. He does not have a compassionate bone in his body. The only sensitive aspect of the man’s personality is his huge, easily bruised ego.
I think it hints more along the lines of thoughtless.
cwaltz, oftentimes I agree with you but not on this one. He has a mean streak a mile wide. I first noticed it when he called his own grandmother a racist on national TV. He has no concern for the feelings of anyone but himself. And he’s not even that good at feigning it which is why it amazes me that the obots fall for his charade.
refreshing take on the current mess – with some much needed perspective
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/03/bonfire_of_the_trivialities.html
Jeez, can Krauthammer be right about this?
“If you thought the AIG hysteria was a display of populist cynicism directed at a relative triviality, consider this: There are more than 6.5 million trucks in the United States. The program Congress terminated allowed 97 Mexican trucks to roam among them. Ninety-seven! Shutting them out not only undermines NAFTA. It caused Mexico to retaliate with tariffs on 90 goods affecting $2.4 billion in U.S. trade coming out of 40 states.”
One of my friends is married to a trucker. There has been so little freight that he has made less than $300 over the past 5 weeks. There should not be so much as one Mexican truck here while American trucks sit idle. Sorry, NAFTA.
I disagree with the premise. 165 million isn’t trivial. The fact that this staggering amount went to 73 people isn’t trivial. Do you realize how many low income childrencould be fed with that? How many seniors could be kept warm at winter? How much armor it could buy for soldiers?
This was just at ONE company. Lord, only knows cumulatively how much has been given out as “rewards” to those that put us in this predicament.
Furthermore it is grating to hear this person act as if these people at the helm of these companies should not be held culpable and accountable. Yes, regulators are at fault. There is plenty of blame to go around though. In a free market they could have chosen to prudently regulate themselves. They didn’t. They sound like a bunch of children whining that “mommy didn’t protect them from themselves.” It’s time for them to grow up. In 2008 they were laying off 11 percent of their workforce.
I also don’t buy that compensation doesn’t fit into the conversation. It does. If you reward people regardless of their results or performance then you have no way of
insuring optimum performance. The days of golden parachutes can’t end soon enough. It’s time that CEOs be expected to produce- just like their employees were expected to have a certain level of productivity to be retained.
How many financial workers ( I’m thinking of our own Arabella Trefoil) were put out of a job, by these CEO’s bad management?
The 165 million of trivial dollars should have gone to compensate them.
Spammy doesn’t like me today. Please take me out of moderation (again).
Another arrest at the DC Tech office:
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/mar/20/tech-office-scandal-prompts-new-arrest/
POTUS/TOTUS
http://baracksteleprompter.blogspot.com/
Here’s some good news: CNN’s ratings are plummeting.
More evidence that CNN is going to have to find a new strategy fast or risk becoming a cable news also-ran: In the month of March so far, the Time Warner-owned network has come in fourth place in prime time among adults 25 to 54, the key demographic for advertisers, more often than not.
http://www.portfolio.com/views/blogs/mixed-media/2009/03/20/cnns-march-ratings-so-far-more-lamb-than-lion
Great news! It couldn’t happen to a “nicer” station.
Wake me up when all the media is gone. CNN is an offender butthenagain so is MSN and FOX. I’d be hardpressed to namea media outlet or pundit I trust.
Holy shit at the deficit spending.
“President Barack Obama’s budget would generate deficits averaging almost $1 trillion a year over the next decade, according to the latest congressional estimates, significantly worse than predicted by the White House just last month.
The Congressional Budget Office figures, obtained by The Associated Press Friday, predict Obama’s budget will produce $9.3 trillion worth of red ink over 2010-2019. That’s $2.3 trillion worse than the White House predicted in its budget.”
We’re at $11 trilion now and set to nearly double.
But you did get angry – angry, hateful and vengeful. These things just weren’t aimed at Bush – they were aimed at that already-prepared target, the islamic world. How anyone can say the US did not take action when Iraq lies in ruins, when bombs blessed by Americans, even American children, were showered on Afghanistan and Iraq, just baffles me. The demand for pay-back was immediate – and it was acted on. The Judeo-Christian world has showered its lethal hatred on muslims in the name of the “war” on terror ever since.
What is this in response to? I must have missed it.
I’m betting she disagrees with the premise that Americans weren’t angry after 9/11. I tend to agree with her/him. We were angry. We allowed that anger to be misdirected at Iraq(after Afghanistan which I did agree with) and even at our own muslim citizens. The Bush administration used anger and fear to manipulate us into war that should never have happened. That being said I don’t ever remember American children blessing bombs.
Additionally, I find it problematic that the poster is lumping all JudeoChristians together in much the same way many lump Muslims together- instead of recognizing that there are radical and destructive elements of men regardless of religious affiliation who do horrendous things ” in the name of God”.
I thought it was a little “out there”. Children blessing bombs? Don’t remember that at all. Making one big ball out of all the Christians is also a tragic idea.
But I think you’re right about the thrust of the comment and I don’t disagree about Iraq either. If we wanted to do the right thing, we’d pull out of Iraq and Afghanistan yesterday.
I don’t think there is a right answer with either place anymore. We can’t unring a bell we should never rung on Iraq. As for Afghanistan, we can’t go back and redo what we should have done to begin with. Time doesn’t work that way.
I get spitting mad all over again when I think of the opportunity that was squandered and the manipulation that occurred to bring it about.
vanity fair on o-zero
http://www.newser.com/off-the-grid/post/99/barack-obama-is-a-terrible-bore.html
From the same pundit – ” Geithner, the Last Yuppie, Is Out of Business ”
What is most shocking, although it shouldn’t be, is to suddenly find, in the melee over the AIG bonuses, that Barack Obama is a yuppie. Really, who knew?….
It obviously never occurred to him to think otherwise.
http://tinyurl.com/crrpeh
I love that story. He is just like Jimmeh.
My daughter, who is disabled, saw the news this morning about Obama’s remark. She’s upset. She sent me this:
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=54368160
He is so heartless–no empathy. It’s really disconcerting, and every time he is off-script, it comes out.
Anger. Well, if you insist RD. Economics seems all entwined with geopolitics these days. Hope we don’t lose sight of Hillary.
In our six years in Iraq, for every one tragic American casualty, a hundred Iraqis have been killed, mostly civilian. The independent ngo estimates vary on the Iraqi dead, but it’s 100 (± 50) for every American. I had no issues with Hillary’s visit through the ME earlier this month. On both policy and personalities, her pitch was fine. Others may want to read more into it, that’s their perogative. ME peace is a process, not an event. When victorious men approach peace after war with a linear mindset, the resulting mandates are rarely stable, e.g. cold war Germany, Vietnam, Korea, new sovereignties in Yugoslavia, Iraq, Pakistan, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, many more. As a nation, we get indignant and righteous when things don’t work out and we have to go drop bombs. Few of us feel humility and responsibility. We get the global reputation we deserve, both good and bad. It’s about deeds, not branding.
In France, they are taking to the streets, protesting handouts to banks…Here, we blog about it…sigh.
NYC tabloids have noticed B0’s performance on Leno and are none too complementary
trust me you dont want to have the french approach to strikes – if the farmers dont like a new policy they just set some cars and trucks on fire – tough if it is yours!
france has as a result one of the most rigid labour markets, everything is regulated, the majority of students aspire to be civil servants according to a poll ….might look nice from far, but is far from nice.
Can’t argue with that!!! Striking is a national sport over there. As soon as the nice weather is returning they find a strike to have.
That said it is a very small number of Frenchs who dictate to the rest of the people but being very organized and mobilized and striking at key points and moments. (remind you of something?)
The State is the largest employer. I remember having had a summer job in the educational system when I was 20 and within days having received a table showing me all my pay raises, automatic promotions and bonuses and retirement income, based on my temporary job as entry point. It was sureal. My whole life was planned for me. I just needed to show up at the said job. No need to work hard or at all to get promotions.
I consider my self a refugee from that mindset called Socialism. It atrophiates the brain.
I worked once for a French company in the UK – sweet Lord what a shock to the system. Up to this day I cant stand listening to the French accent and try to minimize vacationing there. And I even speak French – still puzzled by the experience!!
Yeah, what’s up with that. Most French kids seem to choose their life vocation at the age of sixteen, masculine or feminine designations and all. Makes for easier labeling when they grow up, in that Joe the plumber kind of way. By that standard, I would be today le nerd professionale. The French do somehow manage to hold on to their individuality, however. Btw, I understand liberte and egalite. But what the hell is fraternite. Is that like the unions, or rooting for the French national team, or no girls allowed.
Everyone should read Sugar’s post regarding Obama’s gaffe on Jay Leno: http://sugarnspice.typepad.com/sugar_n_spicea_meeting_pl/
Unlike a stopped clock, Krauthammer is NEVER right. And what’ s wrong with undermining NAFTA? He is a tool
I suspect what is wrong with it from Krauthammers point of view is that it will mean less of a return on his investment if he can’t get Mexican laborers who will work for less and without benefits to create products to sell for outrageous sums here.
Too bad, so sad. It was never the intent of NAFTA to employ mexican truckers while ASmerican trucks sit idle.
New post up!